Coaches Section 2015.Indd

HHeadead CCoachoach CCurtisurtis JJohnsonohnson CURTIS “CJ” JOHNSON Head Coach • Fourth Season New Orleans, La. Idaho, 1985 Follow Coach CJ on Twitter: @TUCoachCJ Curtis Johnson, Jr. completed his fourth season as the head coach of the Green Wave in 2015. Johnson was tabbed as the 39th head football coach in school history on December 5, 2011. He made the short trip to the Tulane campus after spending the previous six seasons (2006-2011) as the wide receivers coach for the New Orleans Saints. A New Orleans native and graduate of St. Charles High School, John- son, 53, has 28 years of coaching experience from both the collegiate and professional levels and was a part of an NFL Championship with the Saints and a Bowl Championship Series National Championship with the University of Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes in 2001. Under Johnson’s tutelage, 11 players have been either drafted or signed with NFL teams during his fi rst four seasons at Tulane, and three players have been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. When Johnson was named head coach, he stated during his introduc- tory press conference that his priority for recruiting would be to recruit within the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana and create the “State of Tulane.” Since then, Johnson has signed a total of 61 players from Louisiana, including 42 local products. Johnson’s third season featured the school’s inaugural season in both Yulman Stadium and as a member of the American Athletic Conference, and three players named to the American All-Conference teams, three rookies earned Freshman All-America honors, including Parry Nickerson, who claimed fi rst team Freshman All-America honors, marking the third season under Johnson a Tulane players achieved All-America honors (Lorenzo Doss in 2013, Cairo Santos & Darion Monroe in 2012). After recording a 2-10 record in his rookie season, Johnson engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in college football in his second season of 2013. Johnson led the Green Wave to a 7-6 overall record, the most wins since 2002, a Conference USA mark of 5-3, the most league wins since In 28 years of coaching, Tulane’s Curtis Johnson has achieved the 1998, a 5-1 home record and more importantly to the school’s 11th bowl highest success on both the collegiate and NFL levels with a national appearance with a berth in the 2013 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. championship at Miami (FL) and Super Bowl title with the Saints. Johnson is the 10th head coach in school history to lead the Green Wave to a bowl game, but is just the second Tulane coach to inherit a losing Along the way, sophomore Lorenzo Doss was named a second-team program and lead the team to a bowl game in his second season, joining All-American by several publications. Three players received national Tommy Bowden who led Tulane to an 11-0 campaign and a Liberty Bowl player of the week honors, while four players were named to national berth in 1998. watch lists and six Green Wave earned C-USA Player of the Week honors on eight occasions. Off the fi eld, Tulane was one of four schools to receive the prestigious AFCA Academic Achievement Award and junior safety Sam Scofi eld was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Second Team and was also named to the C-USA All-Academic Football Team. In his fi rst season as the head coach of the Green Wave, two players received All-America honors, including Cairo Santos, who became just the fi fth player in school history, and the fi rst since 1941, to earn consensus fi rst team All-America honors and was also the winner of the prestigious Lou Groza Award, which is presented to the nation’s top place kicker, and Darion Monroe received honorable mention freshman All-America honors from College Football News. Johnson’s rookie campaign also saw three players named to the All C- USA First Team, including Santos, receiver Ryan Grant and deep snapper Billy Johnson, while a total of nine players received All C-USA honors. Se- nior quarterback Ryan Griffi n quickly benefi tted from Johnson’s pro-style offense and signed as a free agent with the hometown Saints shortly after the 2013 NFL Draft concluded. Off the fi eld, quarterback Ryan Griffi n and Scofi eld were each named to the C-USA All-Academic Football Team, while 29 of his players were named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and six players received a C-USA Academic Medal for sporting a 3.75 grade-point-average or Curtis Johnson led Tulane to its fi rst bowl game in 11 years in just his higher during his fi rst two seasons. second season at the helm of the program in 2013. 10 2015 Tulane Football HHeadead CCoachoach CCurtisurtis JJohnsonohnson Johnson boasts a list of prominent pupils that very few coaches at any level can match. While specializing with wide receiver development, the group of standouts under his direction while at University of Miami (Fla.) and his prior stop at San Diego State includes some of the top wide receivers over the last decade, including NFL fi rst-round picks Andre John- son, Santana Moss, fellow New Orleans native Reggie Wayne and Yatil Green. At Miami (Fla.), Johnson was part of a staff that went to nine bowl games and won the 2001 National Championship. He polished the skills of at least one All-Big East performer each season from 1996-2005, including Johnson - the third overall pick by Houston in 2003 - and Moss, who became the Hurricanes’ all-time leader in receiving yardage before making the Pro Bowl for the Washington Redskins. Wayne departed ranked fi rst in school history in catches and was a fi ve-time Pro Bowl performer for the Indianapolis Colts. In his fi ve-year stint at San Diego State (1989-93) Johnson landed some of the school’s biggest recruits, including 2000 NFL MVP and fellow New Orleans native Marshall Faulk, who was recently inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, as well as wide receiver Darnay Scott, who completed his eight-year NFL career with 408 grabs and 37 touchdowns. Each year Johnson was with the Aztecs, the school had an all-conference performer at wide receiver. Johnson began his coaching career as a receivers coach at Lewiston (Idaho) High School in 1984, serving for three seasons before holding a similar position at the University of Idaho. He spent 1987 and 1988 at the In three seasons under CJ, four players have earned All-America hon- school before becoming the receivers coach at San Diego State. His next ors, while a total of 11 players have either been drafted or signed with stop was at Southern Methodist in 1994 before becoming wide receivers NFL teams. Johnson helped Cairo Santos (left) to fi rst-team All-America coach in 1995 at the University of California-Berkeley. honors and winner of the Lou Groza Award in 2012. Santos enters his Johnson attended the University of Idaho and received his bachelor’s second season with the Kansas City Chiefs. degree in physical education in 1985. He was a four-year starter for the Vandals and an All-Big Sky Conference selection. Johnson returned to New Orleans in 2006 after forging a reputation for Johnson and his wife, Angel, have six children, Janene (32), Kiejon developing top-fl ight targets on the college level for over two decades, (29), Curtis III (24), and Aaron (21), Angele (22) and Justin (21). Johnson and his stature steadily grew on the NFL level. serves as an ordained deacon at his church, First African Baptist Church During his time with the Saints, he and his electrifying receiving corps in New Orleans. helped the franchise to its fi rst NFL title in 2009 and New Orleans made playoff appearances in four of his six seasons. The Saints were rewarded with outstanding results from his wide receiver group during his time with the storied franchise. In fi ve and a half seasons, Johnson worked with both veteran and young wide receivers, with each benefi ting from his guidance and high- energy teaching style. Among the players who improved under his watch through their own dedication and his tutelage were Marques Colston, De- very Henderson, Robert Meachem, Joe Morgan and Lance Moore. A native New Orleanian, Johnson has signed a total of 61 players from Curtis and Angel Johnson have six children and three grandchildren. Louisiana, including 42 local products. www.TulaneGreenWave.com • @GreenWaveFB 11 HHeadead CCoachoach CCurtisurtis JJohnsonohnson THE CURTIS JOHNSON FILE PERSONAL Santana Moss - Miami (Fla.) AGE: 53 (born November 5, 1961) Roscoe Parrish - Miami (Fla.) BIRTHPLACE: New Orleans, La. Reggie Wayne - Miami (Fla.) FAMILY: wife, Angel; sons: Curtis III, Aaron and Justin; daughters: Janene, Will Blackwell - San Diego State Kiejon, Angele; Three grandchildren Marshall Faulk - San Diego State Patrick Roe – San Diego State EDUCATION Darnay Scott - San Diego State HIGH SCHOOL: St. Charles High School (LaPlace, La.), 1979 Bobby Shaw - California-Berkeley COLLEGE: Bachelor’s degree in physical education, University of Idaho, Iheanyi Uwaezuoke - California-Berkeley 1985 As A College Head Coach PLAYING EXPERIENCE Year School Overall Conf/Finish Postseason HIGH SCHOOL: A four-year letterwinner at wide receiver at St. Charles 2012 Tulane 2-10 2-6/6th C-USA ---------------------- High School (LaPlace, La.) from 1975-78. 2013 Tulane 7-6 5-3/4th C-USA New Orleans Bowl COLLEGE: Was a four-year starter in football for the University of Idaho 2014 Tulane 3-9 2-6/8th American ---------------------- from 1980-83.

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